Page 32 of Axis of Fire

“The previous girls didn’t seem to mind.”

I grimaced.

“With your personality, I’m starting to doubt there were any.”

Airis walked over to the dresser, pulled out the first thing he found without even looking, and tossed it to me.

I headed for the door in silence.

It felt like my tongue would dry up if I tried to thank him.

I closed the door behind me and leaned back against it, taking a deep breath as I shut my eyes.

Everything that had happened today still churned inside me like a storm.

Too much.

Too fast.

Too overwhelming.

Too much fear—

the kind I refused to acknowledge, yet couldn’t escape.

“Well, this is unexpected,” a high-pitched voice suddenly cut through my thoughts.

My eyes snapped open.

And I froze.

Something...

was hovering inside the shower.

A strange creature.

About the size of a cat.

Bat-like wings.

Covered in dark blue fur.

Its face was turned away from me, but I could see sharp ears and a long tail split at the end.

Beside it stood two figures.

One was tall, with silver hair, dressed entirely in black—

looking as though he’d stepped straight out of some elegant gothic-butler fantasy.

The other was much shorter, with light curly hair, wearing a bright red coat in an old-fashioned style.

“Aars, we shouldn’t disturb them,” the tall one said, frowning, his arms crossed.

“And what else are we supposed to do?” the creature—Aars—snorted.

“This guy finally gets himself a new girl, and I want to know what she’s like.”